Qld government takes data centre approvals from councils to avoid 'inconsistency'
41 minutes ago
David Crisafulli says Queensland has a set of firm requirements for data centres. ( ABC News: Matt Roberts )
The Queensland government will take the planning and assessment of data centre applications away from local councils under a system set to be rolled out in coming weeks.
It comes as Australia's largest proposed data centre is planned for the Western Downs, 200 kilometres west of Brisbane, in an area rich in agriculture and coal seam gas wells.
The state government said the new planning framework would mirror its changes to renewable energy developments by requiring a social impact assessment and a community benefit agreement to be made with the local council before a development application was lodged.
The concept model of a large-scale data centre project that has been proposed for the Western Downs. ( Supplied: Urbis )
Developers are increasingly eyeing sites across Queensland as locations for data centres to power artificial intelligence development due to the state's available land and capacity to connect to the energy grid.
Queensland is also yet to put in place dedicated planning for data centre infrastructure, unlike Victoria and New South Wales.
The state government said the changes would ensure a "consistent and transparent framework across the state".
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